All Discussions Tagged 'christian' - Atheist Nexus2017-08-18T03:30:39Zhttp://atheistnexus.org/forum/topic/listForTag?tag=christian&feed=yes&xn_auth=noChristian Blogger: Christy Sheats Rightly Killed Her Daughters Because They Were Seeing Black Guystag:atheistnexus.org,2016-07-02:2182797:Topic:26948892016-07-02T07:55:38.782ZJoan Denoohttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/JoanDenoo
<p><a href="http://http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2016/06/30/christian-blogger-christy-sheats-rightly-killed-her-daughters-because-they-were-seeing-black-guys/?ref_widget=popular&amp;ref_blog=danthropology&amp;ref_post=lets-all-enter-the-ark-encounter-giveaway-and-spare-a-family-of-subjecting-their-kids-to-nonsense" target="_blank">Christian Blogger: Christy Sheats Rightly Killed Her Daughters Because They Were Seeing Black Guys</a></p>
<p>Ruth, don't read this, it will just add…</p>
<p><a href="http://http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2016/06/30/christian-blogger-christy-sheats-rightly-killed-her-daughters-because-they-were-seeing-black-guys/?ref_widget=popular&amp;ref_blog=danthropology&amp;ref_post=lets-all-enter-the-ark-encounter-giveaway-and-spare-a-family-of-subjecting-their-kids-to-nonsense" target="_blank">Christian Blogger: Christy Sheats Rightly Killed Her Daughters Because They Were Seeing Black Guys</a></p>
<p>Ruth, don't read this, it will just add to your low spirits. </p>
<blockquote><p><span>Christian writer </span><strong>Jennifer Mayers </strong><span>found a way to make it so much worse. On her blog (tagline: “Spreading Positivity through Jesus Christ”), Mayers </span><em>defended</em><span> the killing of Sheats’ daughters because — wait for it — </span><a href="https://jennifermayers.wordpress.com/2016/06/27/americas-martyr-no-race-mixing/" rel="external" title="" class="ext-link" target="_blank">they were dating black guys</a><span>.</span></p>
</blockquote>
<p></p> Babies die to prevent next Hitlertag:atheistnexus.org,2015-06-10:2182797:Topic:26109332015-06-10T07:29:56.948ZSky Godhttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/SkyGod
<p>Pat Robertson gave some warm advice to viewer on how to comfort parents that have lost little children. Apparently, since God knows all, he calls them home early because they were going to grow up to be the next Hitler, Stalin or a serial murderer.</p>
<p>This story is from a HuffPo <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/09/pat-robertson-hitler-baby_n_7547442.html?ir=Media" target="_blank">article with video.</a></p>
<p>But if you watch the video he says "In the Old Testament God is…</p>
<p>Pat Robertson gave some warm advice to viewer on how to comfort parents that have lost little children. Apparently, since God knows all, he calls them home early because they were going to grow up to be the next Hitler, Stalin or a serial murderer.</p>
<p>This story is from a HuffPo <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/09/pat-robertson-hitler-baby_n_7547442.html?ir=Media" target="_blank">article with video.</a></p>
<p>But if you watch the video he says "In the Old Testament God is responsible for the bad, he is responsible for the good, he is responsible for everything." He goes on to say that with the New Testament we realize that, "human beings have a responsibility, and a lot of things happen because of what humans do. People die in hospitals because of medical malpractice". Then he gives the preventative Hitler / Stalin / serial murderer platitude.</p>
<p>Do they even listen to themselves? How does this make logical sense to anybody? Not to mention the obvious disgraceful behavior of telling somebody that has just lost a child that it's for the best because the kid was probably going to be one of the worst humans in history.</p> Gay and Bisexual Teens Twice as Likely to Get Pregnanttag:atheistnexus.org,2015-05-19:2182797:Topic:26047852015-05-19T14:51:23.966ZDaniel Whttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/Daniel57
<p>Watch christian heads explode when they see that headline. And some atheists, too.</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/study-gay-and-bisexual-teens-twice-likely-get-pregnant190515" target="_blank">Gaystarnews</a>, describing article from American Journal of Public Health.</p>
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<p><em>"Overall, about 13% of straight girls and 14% of girls who only had male sex partners had been pregnant, compared to 23% of lesbian or bisexual girls and 20% of girls who had both…</em></p>
<p>Watch christian heads explode when they see that headline. And some atheists, too.</p>
<p></p>
<p><a href="http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/study-gay-and-bisexual-teens-twice-likely-get-pregnant190515" target="_blank">Gaystarnews</a>, describing article from American Journal of Public Health.</p>
<p></p>
<p><em>"Overall, about 13% of straight girls and 14% of girls who only had male sex partners had been pregnant, compared to 23% of lesbian or bisexual girls and 20% of girls who had both male and female sex partners"</em></p>
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<p>This is the from the report from <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/14/us-pregnancy-teen-lgbt-idUSKBN0NZ2AT20150514?feedType=RSS&amp;feedName=healthNews" target="_blank">Reuters</a>.</p>
<p></p>
<p><em>About 10 percent of heterosexual males and those who only had female sexual partners experienced a pregnancy, compared to about 29 percent of gay or bisexual males and about 38 percent of males with female and male sexual partners....</em></p>
<p><em>The survey data also included students' responses to a question about ever having been forced to have sex against their will.</em></p>
<p><em>For boys, behavior also accounted for a significant part of the increased risk, Lindley said. But, "what was different for the boys is if they were ever forced to have sex, they were more likely to cause a pregnancy."</em></p>
<p></p>
<p><a href="http://ajph.aphapublications.org/" target="_blank">Link to American Journal of Public Health,</a> although I could not link to the specific article.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Wait - gays reproducing faster than straights?</p>
<p>Wait - gay people have sex with the opposite sex?</p>
<p>Wait - boys can be forced to have sex?</p>
<p></p>
<p>Yes to all of the above. Sexuality is not as simple as people like to promote and say. Or maybe it is - this study was about teenagers, and when you have teenage raging hormones, any port in a storm.</p>
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<p></p> Corporate Nation Under Godtag:atheistnexus.org,2015-05-01:2182797:Topic:25988862015-05-01T15:35:44.670ZJoan Denoohttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/JoanDenoo
<p>In discussions with others on Atheist Nexus, they recommended a site that I find insightful. <em>Genealogy of religion: Explorations in Evolution, Anthropology and history</em>. The current discussions involve religion, nationalism and war. These offer great reads. </p>
<p></p>
<p><a href="http://genealogyreligion.net/religious-wars-and-nationalism" target="_self">Religious Wars and Nationalism</a></p>
<blockquote><p>"Rossano concludes his article with this observation: “Outside of kinship,…</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In discussions with others on Atheist Nexus, they recommended a site that I find insightful. <em>Genealogy of religion: Explorations in Evolution, Anthropology and history</em>. The current discussions involve religion, nationalism and war. These offer great reads. </p>
<p></p>
<p><a href="http://genealogyreligion.net/religious-wars-and-nationalism" target="_self">Religious Wars and Nationalism</a></p>
<blockquote><p>"Rossano concludes his article with this observation: “Outside of kinship, nature has come up with nothing more effective for creating group cohesion than religion.” He is right about kinship — for the vast majority of human history, it has served as the primary bond for group cohesion. Nature did not, however, come up with religion — humans created organized religion to serve specific needs and goals. One of these goals has been to organize people for war."</p>
</blockquote>
<p>and</p>
<p><a href="http://genealogyreligion.net/corporate-nation-under-god" target="_blank">Corporate Nation Under God</a></p>
<blockquote><p>"...Cold War, which was ideologically framed in the United States as a righteous battle against godless Communism. Like all great and enduring myths, the origins of this one were soon shrouded by the mists of time, or selective forgetting, and the Christian nation story took on a life of its own. Despite the end of the Cold War, the campaign continued and today it appears that ~76 million Americans would like to establish Christianity as the national religion."</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I highly recommend reading <a href="http://genealogyreligion.net/about" target="_blank">Cris Campbell's work.</a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; background-color: #faf6e1;"><br/></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #222222; font-family: 'Open Sans', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18.2000007629395px; background-color: #faf6e1;"> </span></p> My anti-anti-gay poemtag:atheistnexus.org,2015-02-04:2182797:Topic:25635702015-02-04T18:36:43.378ZOn my Kneesus for Jesus!http://atheistnexus.org/profile/DerekPastafarian
<p>On a youtube video featuring a gay theme, the Christians were going nuts.</p>
<p>I wrote this in the comments and it got 60+ likes so far and climbing fast.</p>
<p>Thought I would post it here too!</p>
<p> </p>
<p class="_message">Incoming christians!<br></br>Batten down the hatches,<br></br>board up the door!<br></br>Damn you, christians, I CAN'T TAKE ANY MORE!<br></br><br></br>They'll say "gay is a choice"<br></br>then fill with rejoice,<br></br>as they think they are better than you<br></br>just because they all think…</p>
<p>On a youtube video featuring a gay theme, the Christians were going nuts.</p>
<p>I wrote this in the comments and it got 60+ likes so far and climbing fast.</p>
<p>Thought I would post it here too!</p>
<p> </p>
<p class="_message">Incoming christians!<br/>Batten down the hatches,<br/>board up the door!<br/>Damn you, christians, I CAN'T TAKE ANY MORE!<br/><br/>They'll say "gay is a choice"<br/>then fill with rejoice,<br/>as they think they are better than you<br/>just because they all think the same imaginary friend is real.<br/>But really, it's no big deal.<br/><br/>I have logic on my side.<br/>Religion has tried,<br/>but it can't.<br/><br/>Not anymore.<br/>Religion is such a chore.<br/>Following nonsense <br/>just to make a fake friend<br/>and to avoid a punishment that isn't at the end.<br/><br/>Please Christians,<br/>just listen to reason.<br/>When I speak of science,<br/>it's surely not treason.<br/><br/>So please,<br/>being gay is simply genetics<br/>there is no reason to be crazy fanatics.<br/><br/>Alas, that is all my time<br/>I must bid you adieu<br/>You can have your opinions,<br/>but don't preach them too.</p>
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<p class="_message">Hope you enjoyed it!</p>
<p class="message brief"> </p> Preparing to Come Outtag:atheistnexus.org,2014-08-12:2182797:Topic:24584032014-08-12T01:50:48.451ZMorgan Westhttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/MorganWest
<p>My husband and I both became atheists at the same time. We had been studying apologetics and reading the "New Atheist" books trying to find answers to the "issues" they brought up. Surprise! We ended up convinced pretty quickly that the Bible just wasn't true, and within a couple weeks, we had pretty much become comfortable with the realization that there is just no reason to believe a God exists. Unfortunately, both of our mothers are VERY religious. Neither of them know, and we dread the…</p>
<p>My husband and I both became atheists at the same time. We had been studying apologetics and reading the "New Atheist" books trying to find answers to the "issues" they brought up. Surprise! We ended up convinced pretty quickly that the Bible just wasn't true, and within a couple weeks, we had pretty much become comfortable with the realization that there is just no reason to believe a God exists. Unfortunately, both of our mothers are VERY religious. Neither of them know, and we dread the day they find out. </p>
<p> We just moved out of his parent's house into our own home for the first time (we married young and are both in school) and his mom brings up church every time we see her. She picked up on the fact that we didn't want to go when we lived at home and was pretty concerned. She even came to us and told us "she wasn't trying to be mean or force us to go. She just didn't want us to lose our way and (stifle sob) she just wants us to go to heaven." Now she is always asking us if we found a church in our new town and if we went to church Sunday. At first she was subtle about it, but know she has just started straight up asking us "please don't stop going to church." I have nothing against her, she's the best mother-in-law a girl could ask for and I love her to death. And I don't expect her to change her beliefs or even want that for her. But I'm not going to pretend to be a christian just for her sake. I have my own life to live.</p>
<p> My own mom is a die hard Biblical Scholar. She is convinced the majority of christians are wrong about the bible and spends hours everyday studying it and writing articles about what it truly means. It's interesting, but of course, she wants to discuss it with me and wants me to agree with her. I don't want to straight up lie to her about what I believe and I can only be so vague to avoid her finding me out. The latest topic is that Jesus came back in 70 AD and he's not coming back again so everybody is wasting their time waiting for his "second coming." All I can truthfully say is "yep, the Bible definitely says he came back then or he isn't coming at all." When she finds out I believe the latter, there will be a fallout. And my dad will undoubtedly be backing her up helping her ridicule me, (ironically, like they both did when I told mom I believed the baptist teachings she now despises were not biblical.)</p>
<p> Our main concern about when they find out (which they will when we have kids because I will not let their religious beliefs impair my children's critical thinking skills and fill them with fear of Hellfire just to spare their feelings) is that they will think we had some trauma, or just got lazy and don't want to go to church, or that we want to sin. You know, the usual rude and inconsiderate presumptions religious parents make about atheist children. So we have decided we are going to try and put together a book of sorts to just hand to them before we discuss anything. When we have Biblical debates, we have both read the bible. We know what we're working with, so we have some common ground. Once we get into atheism, they have no idea what we think, so we want to give them something to establish a common ground to discuss. We basically plan to pick a single point at a time, and write an essay on it. Then we'll just combine the essays into a book and call them chapters. When they confront us, we hand them the book. No discussion until they read it. </p>
<p> I'd love any stories about how your own religious parents reacted when you came out, and any suggestions you have for topics to defend our beliefs. I have counters for the most common apologetics like the watchmaker analogy, the cosmological argument, and the "absence of evidence isn't evidence of absence" arguments. I also have lots of biblical contradictions and scientific contradictions and then just the basic, "there is not a single piece of evidence that logically points to there being a god, especially not the Christian God specifically."</p> Anti Theist film. Is it a possiblity in America?tag:atheistnexus.org,2014-06-12:2182797:Topic:24344002014-06-12T07:33:09.535Zborisfrankhttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/borisfrank
<p>As many of you probably know there has been a resurgence of Christian themed movies being released theatrically. Heaven Is Real grossed 80 million dollars, God Is Not Dead has grossed 60 million dollars with more of course in the pipeline because of such success. I am also unsettled by our government being hijacked by republican Christians who would be happier living in a theocracy. I am interested in making a anti theist themed film. Many people on this site are probably familiar with Thus…</p>
<p>As many of you probably know there has been a resurgence of Christian themed movies being released theatrically. Heaven Is Real grossed 80 million dollars, God Is Not Dead has grossed 60 million dollars with more of course in the pipeline because of such success. I am also unsettled by our government being hijacked by republican Christians who would be happier living in a theocracy. I am interested in making a anti theist themed film. Many people on this site are probably familiar with Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Nietzsche. Do you think it would be possible to make this book into a film with a narrative? I believe this text qualifies as being in the public domain so obtaining rights would not be an issue. I am also aware of some services like Kickstarter and Patreon where one can donate to many causes. Do you see this as viable in anyway? My initial idea is to not play kid gloves or hide the message in "sub text" within the narrative. I am talking about a film that says what many people know and think about the absurdity of Christianity. I was also playing with the idea of creating the christian story under the guise of a science fiction film. I am at the moment just brain storming and would just like to have some feedback. I may not be able to reply to every message so don't let that be a hindrance. Pontificate as much as you would like about the subject and I would appreciate it very much.</p>
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<p>I would like to add that my motivation would not be to create a straw man depiction of christianity BUT I would like to concentrate on the new testament story . I think to claim one is a christian you must adhere to the apostles creed , athanasian creed or Nicene creed at a minimum. The Passion story as you well know its preposterous and that is what I would want to mock. The idea of inherent sin, atonement and redemption.</p> Arizona Bill will allow people to discriminate based on 'Religious Beliefs'tag:atheistnexus.org,2014-02-24:2182797:Topic:23862592014-02-24T18:24:44.412ZLBGT Atheist/Secular Humanisthttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/AdeleWilke
<p id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_8_1393263342634_9"><span class="font-size-4" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">If passed, AZ's Religious Discrimination SB 1062/HB 2153 Bill will give people &amp; businesses a License to discriminate against Non-Theists, LGBT's, single women, people of varying races &amp; people of differing faiths. We must unite to fight this*. Many AZ businesses are fighting this as it will hurt AZ's economy too.…</span></p>
<p id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_8_1393263342634_9"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;" class="font-size-4">If passed, AZ's Religious Discrimination SB 1062/HB 2153 Bill will give people &amp; businesses a License to discriminate against Non-Theists, LGBT's, single women, people of varying races &amp; people of differing faiths. We must unite to fight this*. Many AZ businesses are fighting this as it will hurt AZ's economy too.</span></p>
<p id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_8_1393263342634_9"></p>
<p id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_8_1393263342634_9"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;" class="font-size-4">Join the chorus of people sending a message to Arizona --Tell Gov. Jan Brewer to VETO SB1062 by calling 602-542-4331 or 1-800-253-0883 or email her via her contact page athttp://azgovernor.gov/contact.asp THANK YOU!! Brewer is a Republican right-wing 'christian' &amp; this Bill was created by a Republican conservative 'christian' &amp; backed by conservative christian power groups... so please focus correspondence about how this bill will hurt Arizona's economy, tourism, reputation, her future political career etc.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;" class="font-size-4">Brewer has until Friday 2/28/2014 to sign, not sign or VETO. IMPORTANT: what a lot of people don't realize...If Brewer just doesn't sign SB 1062, it STILL will become law - she must actually VETO the Bill to stop it! PLEASE spread the word with all you know! &amp; all your social groups. Post on Facebook, Twitter, emails etc. If we don't take action now, many WILL be effected!!!! Arizona already has a tarnished reputation of being backward.</span></p>
<p id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_8_1393263342634_9"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;" class="font-size-4"> </span></p>
<p id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_8_1393263342634_9"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;" class="font-size-4"><font face="HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif" size="3"><span id="yui_3_14_0_6_1393263435537_5"> </span></font><span style="font-size: medium;">About the Bill: </span><a href="http://www.azcentral.com/news/politics/articles/20140221brewer-religion-bill-1062-controversial.html?nclick_check=1" id="yui_3_14_0_1_1393263435537_1997" style="font-family: HelveticaNeue, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif; font-size: medium;" name="yui_3_14_0_1_1393263435537_1997">http://www.azcentral.com/news/politics/articles/20140221brewer-religion-bill-1062-controversial.html?nclick_check=1</a></span></p>
<p id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_8_1393263342634_9"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;" class="font-size-4"><font face="HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, sans-serif" size="3" id="yui_3_14_0_4_1393263435537_7"> </font></span></p>
<p id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_8_1393263342634_9"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;" class="font-size-4">Arizona Bill will allow people to discriminate based on 'Religious Beliefs'</span></p> When we atheists don't know shit, are we qualified to discuss gods, heaven, hell, or life after death?tag:atheistnexus.org,2013-10-27:2182797:Topic:23200122013-10-27T03:53:01.518Ztom sarbeckhttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/TomSarbeck
<p>Many of us have heard the following attack. This morning a woman I know used it in a group discussion.</p>
<blockquote><p>An atheist seated next to a little girl on an airplane turned to the girl and said, “Do you want to talk? Flights go more quickly when people talk with fellow passengers.”</p>
<p>The girl, who had just started to read her book, replied to the stranger, “What would we talk about?”</p>
<p>“Oh, maybe about why there is no God, or no Heaven or Hell, or no life after…</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Many of us have heard the following attack. This morning a woman I know used it in a group discussion.</p>
<blockquote><p>An atheist seated next to a little girl on an airplane turned to the girl and said, “Do you want to talk? Flights go more quickly when people talk with fellow passengers.”</p>
<p>The girl, who had just started to read her book, replied to the stranger, “What would we talk about?”</p>
<p>“Oh, maybe about why there is no God, or no Heaven or Hell, or no life after death.”</p>
<p>“Let me ask you a question first. A sheep, a cow, and a horse all eat the same stuff – grass. Yet a sheep excretes little pellets, a cow turns out a flat patty, and a horse produces clumps. Why is that?”</p>
<p>“Hmmm, I have no idea.”</p>
<p>“Do you really feel qualified to discuss God, Heaven and Hell, or life after death, when you don’t know shit?”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>A week earlier, in response to a friend's question, I told some of the same people that I'd seen descriptions of six kinds of atheists. In response to my friend's curiosity I said I would have to review those descriptions before I say much about them. The conversation then turned to other matters, for all but one of us.</p>
<p>It's plainly an adult xian using a little girl's persona to embarrass an adult atheist so I'll probably ignore it. I've thought of devising a satiric reply, perhaps "A bit of reasoning will tell you the answer. The amount of water the animals drink determines the liquidity of their excrement."</p>
<p>Any suggestions?</p>
<p></p> Why Are So Many Christians So Un-Christian? - Amanda (my kinda gal) Marcottetag:atheistnexus.org,2013-09-27:2182797:Topic:23078322013-09-27T10:12:28.540ZAgeOfAtheists14http://atheistnexus.org/profile/secularorbust
<h1 class="node-title">Why Are So Many Christians So Un-Chri$tian?<br></br><br></br></h1>
<div class="print-content"><div class="node node-story view-mode-print clearfix" id="node-901765"><div class="the_body body_living clearfix"><div class="story-date"><em><span class="field field-name-field-date field-type-date field-label-hidden"><span class="field-items"><span class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single">September 26, 2013</span></span></span></span> </em> | </div>
<p>In an age where…</p>
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<h1 class="node-title">Why Are So Many Christians So Un-Chri$tian?<br/><br/></h1>
<div class="print-content"><div id="node-901765" class="node node-story view-mode-print clearfix"><div class="the_body body_living clearfix"><div class="story-date"><em><span class="field field-name-field-date field-type-date field-label-hidden"><span class="field-items"><span class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single">September 26, 2013</span></span></span></span> </em> | </div>
<p>In an age where your average Republican politician is thumping the Bible with one hand and trying to strip food from the mouths of the poor with the other, it’s become a sad cliché to point out how little the most outspoken Christians have in common with their charity-preaching, forgiveness-loving messiah. It’s only gotten worse in recent years, with the followers of the man who cured lepers threatening to shut down the government if Obama insists on giving more people access to healthcare.</p>
<p>But while a nudge and a laugh at the silly Christian hypocrites is a good time, it’s worth looking deeper at what’s really going on with the parsimonious haters of the poor who claim to speak for Jesus. The fact of the matter is that right-wing Christians refuse to see their differences with Jesus as hypocrisy. To really understand how religion works in the world of politics, it helps to understand that it’s usually more about rationalizing what you already want to believe than it is about actually studying your religious texts and drawing intelligent conclusions from it.</p>
<p>So <a href="http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/frc-nothing-more-christian-massive-food-stamp-cut" target="_blank">what’s going on when Ken Blackwell</a> <span class="print-footnote">[3]</span>, the former Ohio Secretary of State and current conservative activist says things like there is “nothing more Christian” than cutting needy people off food stamps? It may seem like the rational thing for Blackwell to have done was simply admit that there’s nothing in the Bible that even comes close to suggesting that it’s good for people to be forced into starvation simply because they had the misfortune of living in a time of high unemployment. After all, Jesus just simply gave people the loaves and the fishes. He didn’t withhold the food, and like Blackwell did, say that being able to eat food would “breed dependency” and that starving the poor was a good way of “empowering others and creating self-sufficiency."</p>
<p>Blackwell is stretching; it’s obvious he’s stretching. So why go there at all? Well, as stupid as he sounds, it’s the rational choice. Being considered a Christian means you get a lot of unearned esteem from the public, and you’re given a lot more benefit of the doubt than if you claimed to be, say, an atheist. Indeed, for many audiences, it’s better to sound like an idiot while claiming to be Christian than to sound intelligent without mentioning religion at all. It makes sense that a politician or activist would want to be perceived as a Christian even if they have to bend themselves into pretzels to explain away the obnoxious clash between what they believe and what even the most strained but intellectually honest interpretation of their Bible would have you believe.</p>
<p>But it’s more than that. There’s no reason to think Blackwell believes himself to be lying when it comes to his religious beliefs. As much as liberals would often wish it otherwise—and no matter how much conservative Christians may claim their beliefs all come from the Bible—the truth of the matter is there’s no real relationship between what a person believes and what their religion ostensibly teaches them to believe. In practical terms, the word “Christian” is an empty term that can basically mean whatever the believer wants it to mean. Christians decide what they want to believe first and then, after they’ve chosen their beliefs, search for any excuse, no matter how thin, to claim that their belief is consistent with their chosen religion.</p>
<p>It’s a process called rationalization or motivated reasoning, and to be perfectly fair, it’s how most people think about most things most of the time: They choose what to believe and then look for reasons to explain why they believe it. Huge reams of psychological research show this is just how the human brain works. Almost never do we look over a bunch of arguments and choose what to believe based on reasoning our position out. <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/03/denial-science-chris-mooney" target="_blank">As Chris Mooney at Mother Jones explains</a> <span class="print-footnote">[4]</span>, “We push threatening information away; we pull friendly information close.” Our faculties are usually put to the task of trying to defend what we already believe, not towards developing a better understanding of the world.</p>
<p>While most people engage in motivated reasoning most of the time, injecting religion into a situation only makes this process worse. That’s because, unlike most other belief systems, religion is impervious to empiricism. Most claims people make are subject to real-world tests. Are you in denial that your spouse is cheating on you? If you’re given photographic evidence that it’s true, that’s probably enough to shake you from your convictions. Want to believe the Earth is flat and not round? Shoot you into space and see how long that belief lasts. Sure, there are always fools who won’t believe the evidence, no matter how overwhelming, but for most of us, most of the time, we have a limit.</p>
<p>With religion, however, there’s no limits about what you can claim to believe. Jesus is a mythological character: he believes whatever the person speaking for him says he believes. For one person, Jesus believes we should feed the hungry and clothe the naked. For another, Jesus didn’t really mean it when he said that stuff; he was just <a href="http://mediamatters.org/blog/2013/09/11/foxs-starnes-fearmongers-about-christian-groups/195830" target="_blank">handing out goodies in order to recruit new believers</a> <span class="print-footnote">[5]</span>. We weren’t there (and it probably didn’t even happen), so the sky’s the limit when making up reasons why what you believe counts as “Christian.” If you want to believe Jesus was actually a space alien brought here by Martians to teach us how to fly, you have as much right as anyone else to believe what you want. It all has equal amounts of evidence to back it up.</p>
<p>That’s one reason politicians love to talk about religion, because they don’t have to prove anything. But that’s the major reason religion really has no place in politics. It’s hard enough for voters and policy makers to hash through the real-world claims that fly around in politics. Trying to figure out what some silent, mythical god wants us to do is a fool’s errand. That god is always and forever going to want what the person speaking for him wants him to want, and nothing else. If Ken Blackwell was only allowed to speak for Ken Blackwell and not claim authority from on high, the true cruelty of his words would be all the easier to see.</p>
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<div class="tags"><em>See more stories tagged with:</em><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/christian-0">christian</a> <span class="print-footnote">[6]</span>,</div>
<div class="field-item odd"><a href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/food-stamps">food stamps</a> <span class="print-footnote">[7]</span>,</div>
<div class="field-item even"><a href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/poverty-0">poverty</a> <span class="print-footnote">[8]</span></div>
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<hr class="print-hr"/><div class="print-source_url"><strong>Source URL:</strong> <a href="http://www.alternet.org/belief/why-are-so-many-christians-so-un-christian">http://www.alternet.org/belief/why-are-so-many-christians-so-un-christian</a></div>
<div class="print-links"><p><strong>Links:</strong><br/>[1] <a href="http://alternet.org">http://alternet.org</a><br/>[2] <a href="http://www.alternet.org/authors/amanda-marcotte">http://www.alternet.org/authors/amanda-marcotte</a><br/>[3] <a href="http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/frc-nothing-more-christian-massive-food-stamp-cut">http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/frc-nothing-more-christian-massive-food-stamp-cut</a><br/>[4] <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/03/denial-science-chris-mooney">http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/03/denial-science-chris-mooney</a><br/>[5] <a href="http://mediamatters.org/blog/2013/09/11/foxs-starnes-fearmongers-about-christian-groups/195830">http://mediamatters.org/blog/2013/09/11/foxs-starnes-fearmongers-about-christian-groups/195830</a><br/>[6] <a href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/christian-0">http://www.alternet.org/tags/christian-0</a><br/>[7] <a href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/food-stamps">http://www.alternet.org/tags/food-stamps</a><br/>[8] <a href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/poverty-0">http://www.alternet.org/tags/poverty-0</a><br/>[9] <a href="http://www.alternet.org/%2Bnew_src%2B">http://www.alternet.org/%2Bnew_src%2B</a></p>
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